Odd, Stone thought, that Allison would argue with Paul about something to do with sailing the boat. “That’s all you could find out?”

“That’s it. Apparently the couple did all the usual things that the yachties do when they sail in and out of Las Palmas—repairs, food, and like that.”

“Funny, a guy showed up here, a journalist, who says he had dinner with them their last night in Las Palmas. Any mention of a third party there during the fight?”

“Nope, no mention. I’m afraid that’s all there is here.”

“About the dinghy, what was so special about the one he had flown in from Barcelona?”

“I don’t know; apparently the guy was real picky about his stuff. There were other dinghies available here—Avons and Zodiacs, mostly, both good brands, one English and one French. He wanted something called a Parker Sportster, an American model, very expensive. It arrived on their last morning. Can you think of anything else I should be doing here?”

“No, I guess not; go on home.”

“Soon as I’m back I’ll finish up my research into Manning; there wasn’t time to do much before I left.”

“Do that, and get back to me soonest. It’s Thursday, and the trial is on Monday; I’ll need the info fast.”

“Right; I’ll be in touch.”

Stone hung up the phone just as Jim Forrester ordered a drink at the bar. “Just the man I wanted to see,” he said.

“What’s up?”

“You said you had dinner with the Mannings their last night in Las Palmas, right?”

“Right.”

“How late were you with them?”

“I don’t know, maybe eleven o’clock.”

“Did the Mannings have a fight when you were there?”

“No, not exactly; they did disagree about something, though.”

“What was that?”

“It was kind of crazy, when you consider that Allison apparently didn’t usually take much interest in the sailing of the boat. We were looking at their route on the chart, and she wanted to sail a direct course from Puerto Rico to Antigua. Paul pointed out to her that the trade winds blow some distance south of the Canaries, and if they wanted to take advantage of the trades, which everybody does who’s crossing in those latitudes, they’d be better off sailing south or southeast from Puerto Rico until they picked up the trades, then turning west with a good breeze at their backs. She couldn’t seem to grasp that, for some reason. We’d all had a good deal to drink, of course; maybe she was just spoiling for a fight. You know how married couples can be. Anyway, I was a little uncomfortable, so I said my good-byes and left. They were still arguing about it when I stepped ashore.”

“Do you recall anything about Paul having a rubber dinghy flown in from Barcelona?”